


Growing Pains (or: How Calum Hood Accidentally Became A Secret Teenage Monster Hunter)

by inkk



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), Bandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Monster Hunters, Canada, Coming Out, Friendship, M/M, Small Towns, Supernatural Elements, Teenagers, unfinished & abandoned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-17 16:51:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16978359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkk/pseuds/inkk
Summary: Luke stands up and takes a half-step back, crossbow dangling at his side. Michael takes this as his cue to help a shocked Calum to his feet and gently dust off the back of his shirt, wincing in sympathy as he sees red claw marks in the places the fabric has ripped.“Fuck,” Calum swears, looking wide-eyed at the monstrous corpse. “That isnota fucking wolf.” Michael and Luke exchange a look. “And why,” his voice escalates, confusion bordering on hysteria, “do you have a fuckingcrossbow?”





	Growing Pains (or: How Calum Hood Accidentally Became A Secret Teenage Monster Hunter)

**Author's Note:**

> this one is Super old tbh, but i figured i might as well post it just to get it out of my drafts, so. probably not reflective of any advancements in my writing, but here we are i guess!  
> also worth noting: this takes place in small-town Alberta. everyone is Canadian (except Ashton). uh... don’t ask me why, because i couldn't tell you.  
> -  
> no real content warnings, just dumb boys hunting monsters :-)

None of this was Calum’s idea.

Showing up to the stupid birthday party for some random girl wasn’t Calum’s idea, and neither was getting drunk and covertly making out with a random hot guy in the back room. Or giving him a handjob. Or throwing up. And walking home alone at one in the morning? 

Definitely not Calum’s idea.

It’s still only early the first few days of May, but it’s been a warm week and the night air is warm and dark as he takes the familiar route in the direction of his house. His footsteps echo as he walks down the sidewalk of the darkened neighbourhood.

One of his soccer teammates - Connor - was supposed to be driving him home, but then Connor got drunk and banged the French foreign exchange student, so there went his ride.

Calum’s been walking in silence for maybe ten minutes when the prickling on the back of his neck starts. It’s an unpleasant, niggling sensation at the back of his mind that tells him someone is watching. He’s still tipsy, but he’s sobered up enough to cast a glance around and uneasily pick up his pace.

Five minutes later, Calum has turned onto the unpaved back road leading down to his house when he starts to hear the steady huff of loud breathing.

_What the fuck?_

His gaze whips around in the darkness. “Hello?” he calls out, voice cracking a little through his uncertainty.

There’s the telltale _shfff_ sound of feet on gravel, then a low, guttural growl from the darkness. He sees vague movement of something in the shadows and thinks, _Oh, fuck._

Calum turns and starts to run.

He’s a bit uncoordinated from the alcohol, chest heaving as his heartbeat thumps in his ears and his legs fly over the ground. He’s terrified, more scared than he’s ever been in his life, and his jaw is clenched as he sprints towards the mouth of the road where his home awaits. If he can just make it a couple hundred more metres, he can lock the door and get a knife or something and—

There’s a snarl from immediately behind him. Calum barely has time to turn his head before he’s being knocked to the gravel on his stomach, some _thing_ coming down hard upon him. He feels rocks embedding themselves in his palms where his arms have reflexively snapped up to break his fall, scraping his cheek, a searing pain and a weight like an elephant on his back.

He twists, writhing, and manages to turn on his back with a choked off yell. The _thing_ is on top of him, a heavy mass of matted white fur and he catches sight of huge, gleaming fangs dripping with saliva, obsidian black eyes narrowed in fathomless aggression. Calum instinctually raises his arms to protect his head and neck. He’s gasping for breath, whimpering in abject terror, and the beast’s mouth opens wider and then—

 

+

 

_**The previous day, 4:30PM.** _

“Oh my god,” Luke says, abruptly sitting up on Michael’s bed. “It’s a Waheela!”

It’s Friday night. The two of them are sequestered in Michael’s room, researching a case. Both his and Michael’s parents are out in Ontario meeting with some werewolf diplomats about successful integration into a dominantly human community, so the two boys have the house to themselves.

They had started out playing video games after school, but Luke hadn’t been able to concentrate. His mind kept drifting back to the details of the current lead; two cows, found decapitated just outside the town’s borders. Then, two days later, three more - this time, even closer. The newspaper had said it was a cruel act performed by teenagers, but Luke and Michael had both known better. Something was off about the whole thing. This is what they _do_ , after all. Hours of research, hunting the occasional small-time monster, keeping the town safe.

“A Waheela?” Michael spins around in his desk chair with a pensive frown. He yawns and ruffles a hand through his messy, fire-engine red hair. “Huh. I don’t know much about them. Aren’t they, like, not usually found this far South?”

“I mean, typically not.” Luke waves a hand arbitrarily. “But the whole ‘missing heads’ thing is totally a Waheela‘s M.O. Here, look. I jotted down some stuff about them last year for fun while we were on that Kelpie case,” he bites his lip, reaching out to hand over his notebook for Michael to read the scrawled notes.

> _Waheela, AKA Saberwolf, Beardog, White Wolf, Wolf on Steroids. Giant wolf creature, native to Nahanni Valley in the Northwest Territories (reports from Michigan and Alaska too). Stands avg. 4ft tall, some exceptions. Like a wolf but with long white fur, wider head, spread toes. Bites off heads (ew)._

Michael nods, one pierced eyebrow raised. “Sounds exactly right. Do they mainly go for humans?” 

“Not sure,” Luke shakes his head. “I think if it was hungry enough, it would go for anything. And if it’s already travelled this far… That would explain the cows.”

“Yeah, alright. This is a good start,” Michael agrees. “So if it really is one of these, got any ideas about how to kill it?”

 

+

 

By the time they finally track down the Waheela, it’s almost too late. Michael has his customary silver hunting knife at the ready, and Luke is armed with his crossbow. It’s one in the morning and they’ve managed to trail it from a distance for about a kilometre or so, staying downwind the whole time, and then things get a bit more complicated.

The Waheela is stalking someone.

The person - a young man, it looks like - is a dark figure walking down the street alone, seemingly completely unaware of the hulking danger behind him. Michael looks to Luke with a silent question: _do we shoot now?_

Luke mutely shakes his head and makes the hand sign for _follow me._

They stay silent, following the beast as it stalks its prey. They’re just about to turn down a gravel path when they hear a voice say, “ _Hello?_ ” followed by a threatening growl and the responding sound of panicked footfalls as the boy attempts to flee.

Michael doesn’t hesitate before he starts sprinting towards the action, Luke right there beside him. They run full-tilt down the unpaved road, just in time to see the boy fall to the ground with a short cry, the Waheela on top of him.

“Luke!” Michael yells.

“On it!”

Hardly slowing down, Luke raises the crossbow and takes aim, letting an arrow fly. It buries itself in the massive beast’s flank and the Waheela snarls in anger, head whipping around just in time for Luke to sink an arrow into its brain through one black eye.

The Waheela makes an odd squeal before it staggers and crumples, twitching, on top of the boy.

“Shit!” Michael is right there in an instant, rolling the heavy body aside with a grunt. “Are you okay?” he says, kneeling beside the person on the ground, shaking his shoulders. “Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“What the fuck,” the boy gasps. “What the-- What the fuck, what _was_ that, is it--”

“It’s dead,” Michael reassures him, glancing at the faintly-twitching corpse. “Are you alright? Did it bite you?”

“No, no,” the boy says, sitting up, “It just scratched me a little, but-- What--?” He looks frantically between Michael and Luke, half his face catching in the moonlight. He’s got tan skin and dark, fluffy hair with a prominent jaw, brown eyes blinking wide and horrified and _holy shit, it’s Calum fucking Hood_. “What just happened? What the fuck is that thing, I don’t--”

Luke looks up from where he was examining the hairy, white corpse, and says, “It’s, uh, a wolf. Was, at least. You’re safe now. You should go home.”

Calum looks absolutely rattled to the core, his dark eyes wide in recognition as he sits up. “You’re Michael Clifford,” he says. “And you! You’re Luke Hemmings. From school. Why are you--? What--?”

Michael doesn’t know what to say in reply, so he just stares at Calum in the darkness.

Luke stands up and takes a half-step back, crossbow dangling at his side. Michael takes this as his cue to help a shocked Calum to his feet and gently dust off the back of his shirt, wincing in sympathy as he sees red claw marks in the places the fabric is ripped.

“You should go home,” Luke eventually repeats.

“Fuck,” Calum swears, looking wide-eyed at the dead Waheela. “That is _not_ a fucking wolf.” Michael and Luke exchange a look. “What the fuck? And why,” Calum’s voice escalates into hysteria, “do you have a fucking _crossbow_?”

“It’s, uh,” Michael says, at the same time as Luke responds, “Go home, Calum.”

“What the fuck,” Calum repeats dumbly. His eyes are still locked on the massive white corpse.

“Shit,” Michael says, locking eyes with Luke.

In the past two years of hunting monsters, they’ve never come across this situation before. Unsurprisingly, they’ve never really discussed the proper protocol for ‘a super popular kid from school just almost got his head bitten off by a gigantic wolf and now he’s freaking out’.

“Um,” Luke bites his lip. He shoulders the crossbow by its carry strap, so that it’s hanging from his back.

“You have got to be shitting me,” Calum says softly. “Seriously, what? Who even _are_ you people?”

“Your house is close by here, right?” Michael sighs. Calum just nods. “Okay, I’ll walk you over. You can take a shower, clean yourself up, go to bed and forget all of this.” He shoots another meaningful glance at Luke and throws an arm around Calum’s shoulders, firmly but gently guiding him away.

Luke watches the two of them walk down the path, listening to Calum’s questions and protests growing fainter and fainter in the night. He turns back to the immense mass of fur. Upon second thought, he bends down to yank both arrows out of the body to reuse later. The genuine silver-tipped arrows are a bitch to find. He roughly wipes most of the viscous, black blood off on the Waheela’s hairy leg and sticks them back in his quiver.

He only has to wait another twenty minutes or so before he sees Michael’s silhouette trudging down the path towards him.

“He okay?” Luke asks.

Michael shrugs, coming to a stop beside him. “He will be. Just a little shaken up. I told him to clean up the scratches and sleep it off,” Michael sighs. “We can deal with him later. Maybe he’ll think it was all just a fucked-up dream, or something.”

They both know it’s wishful thinking. The two of them look down at the massive wolf-like creature for a long moment. “So… how do you want to move it?” Luke asks, his face scrunching up in disataste.

Michael heaves a long exhale. “I think we have to drag it,” he says reluctantly. “I’ll grab the back legs, you grab the front ones.”

They end up dragging it about half a kilometre away from the more suburban area, into a ditch. They’re both breathing heavily as they pause and Michael hunches over, says, “Please, for the love of God, don’t say we have to burn it.”

Luke laughs breathlessly. “No, I don’t think so. We shouldn’t just leave it here, though. We can leave it in those trees there for now,” he says, pointing to a little grove of darkened trees maybe twenty metres away. “The coyotes’ll find it before anyone else does.”

Unspoken, they start hauling the corpse in the direction of the patch of trees. It’s a bit lazy, Michael knows, to just dispose of the body this way instead of burying it, but it’s two-thirty in the morning and he really doesn’t want to be here right now. He thanks God tomorrow (today?) is a Saturday.

As soon as they drag the dead Waheela into the middle of the grove, the two of them drop it and step back, wiping sweat from their foreheads

“Mum is not going to be pleased about this,” Luke says. Michael isn’t sure whether he’s referring to the presence of the Waheela, the attack and subsequent witness, or their frankly shoddy disposal job. He probably means all of the above.

“Fuck,” Michael mutters.

“Yeah,” Luke agrees, huffing a chuckle. The moonlight is casting stripes of shadow on his face through the trees. “Calum fucking Hood, eh? Of all the people in this tiny little town, it had to be him, didn’t it?”

Michael turns and starts to walk out of the trees. Luke is right behind him as they trudge heavily up the ditch and onto the gravel road. “What are we going to do?” Michael asks. “Should we just deny everything?”

Luke shrugs. “Not sure.” They walk in silence for a bit longer, and then he suddenly asks, “What if we told him?”

Michael stops, peering at Luke in the darkness. “What?”

“Y’know,” Luke licks his lips. “We could tell him the truth. Well, not _all_ of the truth. But we could tell him what it was, or something. I don’t think he would tell anyone else. I mean… He’s not going to just forget about it, and this way we could kind of, um, control the situation. I don’t know.” He’s rambling at this point.

Michael frowns at his best friend. “Luke, I don’t think--...”

“Nevermind, then,” Luke dismisses it, his cheeks flushing. “It was just a stupid thought.” He carries on walking.

“Wait,” Michael catches him by the shoulder “Hey, Luke, wait. It’s not stupid.” He bites his lip and says, “It’s just that he’s so… popular, you know? We could fuck things up if we approach him.” He scrubs a hand through his hair. “Maybe we should, um. We could wait and see if he comes to us first. Like, if he actually wants to know.”

Luke looks at him, considering. “Oh,” he finally replies. “Yeah. Okay, that’s actually a really good plan.”

Michael grins, his teeth a flash of white in the early morning darkness. “Okay. We’ll let the shitstorm come to us, then.”

 

+

 

They spend most of Saturday catching up on sleep from the prior excursion, and then Sunday is used to study for bio. Luke sleeps over both nights. They don’t talk much about what happened, other than to update their respective logbooks with the pertinent details.

Michael’s parents come home around eight on Sunday evening. Luke and Michael tell them about the creature, but leave out some of the details of how the most popular boy in school got involved and how they may or may not have just left the corpse to decompose in a forest. _What they don’t know won’t hurt them_ , Michael thinks. After a dinner of reheated frozen lasagna, Luke adjourns back to his own home directly across the street, where Michael picks him up for school again the next morning.

Their town is indisputably tiny - official population: 3,257 - and it’s definitely small enough that they could be walking to and from school. However, since Michael got his license and bought Crazy Derek Brown’s old red truck for five hundred bucks last fall, it’s become a point of pride to park in the small lot behind the school every day.

This morning, much like any other morning, they drive the short distance with the windows down and Luke’s phone plugged into the truck’s modified stereo system. The vehicle’s air conditioning hardly works, and the morning is already hot and sunny.

Michael pulls into his usual spot beside Mr. Horan’s modest blue hatchback. He puts the truck into park and turning off the gas, looking to Luke, who is wearing his douchiest sunglasses and a broad grin. “Ready?” the little bastard asks.

“Yeah,” Michael sighs. _Fuck Luke for actually, genuinely enjoying school._ They get out and he locks the truck, grabbing his backpack from the bed and swinging it over one shoulder.

As he and Luke walk up to the school doors, Michael can’t quite shake the feeling that he’s being watched.

 

+

 

Luke has Chemistry 30 first block Monday morning, whereas Michael has Language Arts. They pass by their lockers and go separate ways, and it’s not until Michael walks through the classroom door that he remembers _Calum fucking Hood_ is in his English class.

The aforementioned boy is sitting and laughing with friends, but he stops talking as Michael walks in, going tense. They make eye contact. Calum’s right cheek is visibly red and scratched-up. Michael looks down at the bracelets adorning his wrists, deliberately choosing a seat in the opposite corner of the classroom; he pulls out his well-worn copy of _Lord of the Flies_ and then goes on his phone.

Thankfully, Calum doesn’t approach him. The boy goes back to joking with his buddies, albeit a little less exuberantly than before.

First block drags by at a torturous pace. Michael can almost physically feel Calum’s dark eyes watching him from across the room, and he finds it harder than usual to concentrate on the teacher as she talks about the symbolism of the conch shell. When the bell rings at 9:05, Michael rushes out of the class before Calum can corner him.

He walks to Social, arriving at the class just as the bell sounds to signify the start of second period. He assumes his usual seat beside Luke in the centre of the room.

Mr. Horan walks into class five minutes late, as usual, and hands out a worksheet about global issues. “Use your textbooks to fill this out in partners,” he instructs in his signature Irish lilt. At the responding groans, he says, “C’mon, guys. It’ll take, like, half an hour and then you can all play on your damn phones for the rest of the block. And don’t forget, your World War I presentations are way past due! If I don’t have your project in my inbox by the end of the day, sucks to be you.”

Beside Michael, Luke sighs heavily and pulls out his textbook. “I’ll do questions one to eleven, you do twelve to twenty one?” he proposes.

Michael nods. He puts in one headphone and the two of them settle into the work.

Ten minutes in, Luke taps him on the shoulder and quietly asks, “Seen Calum yet today?”

Michael shrugs, his pen pausing over the paper. “He’s in my English class. We, uh, made eye contact, that’s all. I don’t think he’s tried to tell anyone yet.”

“Yeah, ‘cause he’d sound like an absolute lunatic,” Luke snorts. “What should we tell him, when he asks?”

“Dunno,” Michael shrugs again. He’s secretly been hoping he can just avoid Calum indefinitely and the subject will be dropped, but from the look in Calum’s eyes this morning, he doesn’t think that’s an option anymore.

 

+

 

The situation comes to a peak at lunch, when Michael and Luke are sitting in the grass under the shade of a tree behind the school. Luke is copying out questions from his chemistry textbook, Michael’s phone playing Sum 41 from its position on the ground between them.

“Hey,” an unfamiliar voice says from behind them.

Luke startles, his gaze whipping around to see Calum Hood standing there, hands in the pockets of his jeans and a steely expression on his face. His mouth is set in a hard line.

Luke looks to Michael, who he can tell is staring from behind the strange circular sunglasses he insists are fashionable. No one speaks for a long moment.

“So, I think you guys have some explaining to do,” Calum finally says.

“Um,” Luke replies, like the intelligent individual he is. He’s seriously rethinking their plan.

Before he can say anything further, Michael pushes his sunglasses up into his mop of red hair. “What do you want to know?” he asks plainly, a challenge in his voice.

“Everything,” Calum replies without hesitation. “What was that thing? Why did it come after me? And why where you,” he gestures to Luke, “out at one in the morning with a fucking crossbow? Overall, just… What?”

Michael and Luke exchange a glance, and then Luke nods in coalescence. “Okay,” he sighs. “If you really want us to explain it, just... come sit down, or something.”

Calum looks at him for a moment and cocks his head as if determining whether Luke is serious. He looks to Michael, who has gone uncharacteristically quiet, then approaches and takes a seat on the grass in front of the two boys. “I want to know. What was that thing?”

“It’s called a Waheela,” Michael speaks up, clearing his throat. “They’re, um, a kind of giant wolf-looking cryptid. They like to bite people's’ heads off.”

Calum looks at him blankly. “A… cryptid? Like, as in, a supernatural being? Like Bigfoot, or some shit?”

“Yes and no,” Luke replies. “Bigfoot isn’t real. But yeah, I guess you could call a Waheela a ‘supernatural being’ if you want to be weird about it.”

Calum’s face scrunches up and he says, “What the fuck?”

“Yeah. I know it’ll take a sec to grasp, but yeah,” Luke bites his lip. “The supernatural actually does exist, or whatever.”

Calum stares at him. “You guys believe in magic?”

“Uh… Yeah,” Luke replies slowly. “It’s kind of a thing we do.”

Calum laughs a little, clearly uncomfortable. “So you’re saying you think monsters are real.”

Michael narrows his eyes, unappreciative of Calum’s condescending tone towards Luke. “I mean, one did try to bite your head off a couple nights ago,” he points out, as if it’s something obvious. “I’d say that kinda counts as proof.”

Calum frowns. “I don’t… Um. What?” There’s a long pause between the three of them. “So, wait. If that _thing_ really was a-- a monster, then why did it come after me? Are there more of them?”

“Waheelas are solitary creatures,” Luke shakes his head. “They don’t hang out in packs. And as for why it was stalking you, I don’t know. It was probably just hungry and you were easy prey. It’s dead now, you don’t have to worry.”

“So you guys,” Calum points between them in disbelief, “are telling me you’re secret teenage monster hunters?”

Michael laughs and says “Yes,” at the same time as Luke says, “No, definitely not.”

“It has a ring to it,” Michael looks over to Luke with a delighted grin. “I mean, we do hunt monsters.” 

“Occasionally,” Luke amends. “We’re not, like, Buffy and crew. We just look into local cases and keep things safe around the area.”

“What the fuck,” Calum mutters under his breath. “Monsters? Really?”

Luke shrugs. “Believe us, or don’t. Your choice.”

Calum’s frown deepens as he attempts to wrap his head around the information. “Do your parents know about any of this?” he finally asks. “Monsters? All that jazz?”

“Yeah,” Michael answers easily. “My parents have been dealing with this shit hands-on since they were teenagers, and my grandparents before them. Luke’s whole family, too. His parents deal more with the politics and ethics side of things now, though.”

“And so you guys think vampires are real, too?”

Luke shrugs. “Yes, but not like in the movies. They’re not even usually all that dangerous. Like regular humans, but they need extra sunscreen and they get kinda faint-y when they don’t feed often enough.”

“And werewolves?” Calum asks, uneasy. Michael nods. “Really? What about ghosts?”

“Tricky question,” Luke shrugs. “Spirits, yes. Stereotypical things that go ‘boo’, not so much. The really malevolent shit is pretty rare.”

“What the fuck,” Calum repeats. Distantly, the bell rings to signify the end of lunch, but none of them make a move to get up. “Wow,” he finally says, “Okay. Honestly not entirely sure what I should be thinking right now.” There’s a pause. “If you guys are just messing with me, I’m so totally going to get the whole soccer team to beat you up.”

His tone is light enough that Luke knows without a doubt he’s not serious, but out of the corner of his eye he sees Michael physically bristle at Calum’s joking threat. “Good luck with that,” Luke chuckles in response. “You’ve seen me use a crossbow.”

There’s a long silence between them, and Michael flips his shades back down over his eyes, leaning back on his elbows.

“So I guess monsters might exist now,” Calum finally states with a long, contemplative exhale, looking up at the bright blue sky.

“Always have,” Michael nods sagely. “Welcome to the club of enlightenment.”

The three of them end up skipping fourth block, instead lounging around outside under the tree. Calum periodically asks halting questions, which Michael and Luke answer.

“So Sasquatch isn’t real, but unicorns are?” Calum asks, still frowning forty-five minutes later.

Michael nods. “Yeah. I mean, no one’s ever seen the Sasquatch, so it’s highly unlikely that it exists. Unicorns, however, are a known and protected species.”

“They’re super rare,” Luke adds in response to Calum’s bewildered look. “There are only about a hundred left in Canada, since assholes hunt them for their horns and hair and stuff.”

“Oh.” There’s a stretch of silence. “Then… Okay. So if all this shit you’re telling me is for real, how come nobody has discovered it yet?” Calum shakes his head. “That there’s this whole other world right under our noses? I don’t understand. How would I not have known sooner?”

Michael shrugs and says, “I dunno. Luke and I have known since we were little, so.” He scratches his jaw idly, where Luke can see the beginning itch of a missed shave or two. “Most of the creatures we deal with are pretty secretive. They don’t like to be around humans that much, and those who do are kept under strict regulation by the government and people like our parents. And…” he adds, “I guess people don’t really _want_ to know.”

Calum nods, deep in thought. Luke checks the time on his phone - 1:17PM.

“We should head to fifth period,” Luke suggests, starting to pack up his long-since abandoned chemistry work. “What’ve you got next, Calum?”

“Music with Styles.”

Michael fixes him with a look. “Really?”

“It’s 2018, Michael. Jocks can play music, too,” Calum laughs.

“We have Styles next block, as well,” Luke explains, shoving his textbook into his backpack. “I’ve never even seen you in class.”

“Probably ‘cause I hardly show up,” Calum smirks, getting to his feet. “I’m tight with Styles, so he lets me fuck off as long as I play a couple songs for him at the end of the year.”

“You mean you don’t even have a band?” Michael inquires. Calum shakes his head, teeth flashing in a wide smile. “What do you play?”

“Bass. At the start of the semester, the only people not already in a band were that chick who plays country and the new Australian kid, so. I’m solo this time around.”

“Huh,” Michael raises his eyebrows, standing up as well.

“Well, I’ll see you guys in there, I guess,” Calum grins. He starts walking off towards the school doors.

Luke turns to Michael as Calum leaves. “Well, that wasn’t so bad,” he blinks.

Michael exhales. “Yeah, not bad at all. I think he took the whole thing rather well.” He hikes his backpack up on one shoulder and admits, “He’s kind of a charming little fucker.”

 

+

 

Music class is Michael’s favourite block. Mr. Styles is young and laid-back enough that he doesn’t really care if you fuck around most of the time, provided you don’t constantly break equipment and you have at least three relatively polished songs by the end of the semester. Plus, there’s the additional fact that Michael had a hopeless crush on him for the entirety of last year.

As they walk into the music room, the man himself is sitting behind his desk, restringing a guitar as The Rolling Stones blare through the room speakers. He acknowledges them with a nod.

“We’re just having another free class to practice for the end-of-year show,” Mr. Styles informs the two, raising his voice over the music. “Alex and his boys have booked the studio to record, but the back room and stairwells are all first-come-first-serve.”

Unsurprisingly, Calum is nowhere to be seen as Michael and Luke grab their guitars from the store closet (Luke’s being brought in from home, and Michael opting to use a spare one provided by the school because he doesn’t trust anyone around his baby). Since they’re the first ones here, they pick the small back room to practice in. It’s a cramped subsection of the music room with most of the already-limited space filled up with a drum kit, but it’s worth it just for the soundproofed walls.

They already have the necessary three songs completely done for their end of semester performance - _When I Come Around_ by Green Day, _Little Death_ by +44 and then an original - so it’s not a big deal that they fool around for most of the block, just playing whatever comes to mind and generally goofing off. They’ve tentatively been putting together an acoustic version of _Speak of the Devil_ by Sum 41.

It’s about forty-five minutes into class when a knock comes on the door. Luke’s gaze snaps up from the strings of his guitar, and Michael awkwardly shuffles his chair out of the way of the door in order to crack it open. “Yeah?”

He’s expecting Mr. Styles on the other side, but instead he’s met with dorky glasses and an entirely different head of curly hair.

“Hi,” the unfamiliar boy says. “Uh, sorry to interrupt. I just need to borrow the snare,” he says, gesturing to the unoccupied drum kit.

Michael just stares back at him for a second, trying to place the unexpected accent to his words. The boy looks incredibly uncertain. Michael mentally shakes himself, “What? Oh, yeah. Go for it. Sorry.” He stands up, holding the guitar to his chest and clumsily moving the chair out of the way so the other boy can squeeze in to retrieve the part he needs.

“You must be Ashton,” Luke says as the boy is quickly grabbing the little round drum on a stand.

“Yeah,” the boy - Ashton - smiles a bit, still looking uncomfortable. “Accent gave me away, did it?”

Luke laughs. “Yeah. I think we have chem together. And besides that one French exchange student, you’re pretty much the only one in this town we haven’t known since kindergarten. I’m Luke, by the way,” he adds. “This is Michael.”

Michael does a stupid little wave that he immediately regrets. Ashton pauses, looking like he wants to say something more, but instead he just hoists the snare up and nods with a weird grin. “Uh, nice to meet you! Thanks. See you around.”

He exits with the drum and Michael pushes his chair back into position against the door, taking a seat with the guitar in his lap.

“Seems nice,” Luke says neutrally. “I’ve seen him in chem, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard him speak before.” He promptly turns back to his guitar. “Okay, so I was thinking for the bridge, we could fit in a couple extra notes. Kind of like this, listen.”

The two of them forget about Ashton completely until the bell rings at the end of the day. Michael and Luke are walking to Michael’s truck, throwing their shit in the back.

They’re sitting on the bed of the truck in the bright afternoon sun as they usually do, waiting for the parking lot to clear out a bit as Luke tells Michael about his older brothers’ latest letter home from Portugal, where they’ve been dealing with a string of missing children related to a massive colony of Duende. Michael is cross-legged, Luke’s long legs dangling off the tailgate; the two of them are seated close together, Luke keeping his voice down to a moderate volume so as not to be heard above the bustle of the school.

Michael is just listening to Luke saying something about Ben getting bitten when he feels the returning sensation of being watched. His head snaps up, gaze looking critically around, and he sees a boy leaning against the trunk of a beat-up turquoise car with his arms crossed, unmistakably watching them from across the parking lot.

Michael squints suspiciously, flipping his sunglasses up into his red hair for a better look. The boy is tall, with curly brown hair, and…

“Ashton?” Michael blurts, interrupting Luke.

“Uh, what?” Luke pauses in the middle of his sentetence.

Michael frowns. “It’s that kid from earlier, Ashton. The Australian one. He’s watching us by that turquoise car.”

Luke’s brow furrows. “What?” He doesn’t look immediately, instead casually turning his head to more inconspicuously assess the parking lot. He turns back to Michael with a confused look. “I see him. What’s he—…?”

Even as relatively new to the profession as the two of them are, it’s a habit to want to go unnoticed, and Michael doesn’t like the way Ashton is plainly staring at the two of them as if he knows something.

“Let’s get out of here,” Michael suggests uneasily, uncurling his legs. He and Luke quickly hop down from the back of the small truck, getting in and starting the engine.

“Why is he watching us?” Luke asks as they pull out of the parking lot, echoing Michael’s own thoughts.

Michael looks in the rearview mirror and catches a glimpse of the boy, still standing there with his arms crossed. “It’s probably nothing,” he says. “He’s probably just weird.”

 

+

 

The next two days, Calum comes and sits with them at lunch. Luke doesn’t question it too much.

The three boys are sitting in the shade of the tree on Thursday, Calum sprawled out on his back with one headphone in as Michael studies up on _Lord of the Flies_ and Luke works on chemistry review. It’s a dry thirty-one degrees, and the sun is out at full force.

“Don’t you have jock friends?” Michael eventually asks, disrupting the silence and looking up from his book with a guarded expression.

“Huh?” Calum turns his head to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, why are you here with us?” Michael cocks his head. “We’re not exactly the cool patrol. Don’t you have popular, sports-y friends to hang out with?”

“Oh.” Calum looks back up at the sky. “I dunno. You guys are pretty cool.” Luke snorts quietly as he hits a couple buttons on his calculator. “I mean, fine. Maybe not in a traditional high school sense, but I’m coming to terms with the fact that you literally saved my life, so.” He pauses, as if considering his next words. “Most of my soccer teammates are homophobic jerks, anyways.”

“Oh.” Michael echoes, just looking out across the field at nothing for a second. Then, seemingly satisfied with Calum’s answer, he goes back to reading his book.

Luke observes the brief exchange, but doesn’t say anything.

 

+

 

Michael and Luke hang out that day after school, as they do most days. They go to Luke’s house this time. The original plan was to study for social, however the oppressive heat has proven to be too much and they’ve given up halfway through the provided homework questions about racism towards immigrants. It’s three-forty five and they’re lethargically sitting in Luke’s backyard under the dappled shade of a tree, Michael eating a popsicle. It’s reminiscent of how they used to spend afternoons as seven-year olds.

“So I was thinking,” Luke says carefully, breaching the quiet between them. “Maybe… Maybe we could invite Calum to hang out sometime. Like, outside of school.”

Michael looks over at him curiously, lips stained red with sugary cherry flavour. He holds the remains of his popsicle aloft. “Why?”

Luke shrugs. “I mean, he knows about all the shit we do but he still seems to like us,” he offers. “And we’ve been hanging out at lunch everyday, and stuff. He seems like a really good guy.”

“For a jock, maybe,” Michael mutters.

“For a jock,” Luke amends. “Look, Mikey. I know you don’t like new people, or whatever. But Calum is… He’s different. He’s nice, and funny, and he willingly hangs out with us. I feel like we should at least make some kind of effort to involve him.”

Michael bites off a chunk of his popsicle and chews. “I guess,” he agrees. “But…” he trails off.

“But what?” Luke questions when it becomes apparent that Michael isn’t about to continue.

Michael breathes a heavy exhale. “I don’t know.”

Luke bites his lip. “If you really don’t want to, it’s okay. I know you don’t… I know you don’t always like trying to make new friends. I just think we can trust Calum.” His sentence hangs there in the hot afternoon air for a long moment.

“Well. If you trust him, that’s good enough for me,” Michael decides, mouth quirking up into a little smile. His lips are red enough to match his hair. It’s rather helplessly endearing.

Luke nods and flashes a smile back. He’s certain that this will be good for both of the two of them, so he lets it go, but he doesn’t miss the faint spark of hesitation in Michael’s green eyes.

 

+

 

On Fridays, they only have four classes instead of five and school gets out at 1:30. Michael had to stay late into lunch hour to finish an essay for English, so it was just Luke and Calum at lunch. After a quick text beforehand to check if Michael was okay with it, Luke had casually invited Calum to hang out at the local burger place after school.

Michael and Luke are currently sitting on the back of Michael’s truck after school, watching the school population mill about as they wait for other boy to arrive.

There are footsteps, and Luke turns to look. “Hey, sorry,” Calum huffs in apology as he jogs up to them, hands gripping the straps of his backpack. He’s grinning, wearing sunglasses and a snapback that would probably look supremely douchey on anyone else.

“Hey,” Luke smiles back with a little wave. “Welcome to Michael’s shitty truck.”

“Hey,” Michael frowns, mock-offended. “Don’t call my truck shitty. Only I get to do that.” Luke pulls a face back at him and laughs, hopping down from the tailgate.

The three of them pile into the truck - it’s super old, which means it has one long bench for them to squish onto as opposed to actual seats. Luke puts himself in the middle, Calum’s body pressed against his right side and Michael to his left. “Ready, boys?”

“Ready,” Calum nods as Michael pulls out.

(He looks in the driver’s side mirror as they exit the parking lot, catching a glimpse of a turquoise car and brown curls and thinks, _Jesus. This might be getting creepy._ )

The drive to Betsy’s Burger Shack is only ten minutes. It’s one of the most popular places to hang out in the summer, mostly for lack of anything better to do around town, but the three of them manage to secure a good parking spot in front of the red-and-white building. The air conditioning is heavenly as they walk inside and get a booth.

As always, Luke gets a cotton candy milkshake, and Michael gets fries and onion rings for them to share. Calum orders a regular burger.

Luke leads most of the discussion while they wait for their food to come out. He’s always been better at making friends than Michael has, and this scenario is no exception; he and Calum are laughing and joking like best friends in no time. Michael supposes this should be a good thing, but an unknown feeling stirs a little in his gut when Luke bursts into raucous laughter after Calum finishes telling a story about one of his drunk soccer teammates falling off a roof at a party. 

Michael makes a vague effort to smile faintly along at the conversation, occasionally interjecting comments, but he can’t help feel like he’s being uncomfortable and superficial about it whereas Luke is completely genuine.

Their food comes out and Michael silently munches on his fries, wordlessly sliding the cardboard tray between them to share. Calum eats his burger in typical teenage boy fashion, meaning he inhales the thing in about three minutes flat. He politely excuses himself to the bathroom to wash his hands and slides out of the booth.

“You okay?” Luke asks quietly once Calum is out of earshot, concern in his voice. “You’re being quieter than usual.”

“I’m good,” Michael nods, grabbing an onion ring.

“Do you not like him?” Luke presses.

“He’s fine. Great actually,” Michael says, and he finds it’s the truth. Calum has been nothing but kind and courteous to either of them. As much as it seems to be ingrained in Michael’s nature to try and find peoples’ flaws, he can’t seem to pinpoint anything bad or malicious. From what he can tell, Calum seems like a truly good person. And if hanging out with him makes Luke happy, well.

“Okay,” Luke replies warily. He reaches out to dip another fry in ketchup. “But if you don’t like him for some reason, or if he’s mean to you or there’s something wrong, you have to tell me, alright? We’re friends first.”

Michael nods, a fondly exasperated smile tugging at his lips at Luke’s protectiveness. “Okay,” he agrees. Something about that sentence catches in his brain; _We’re friends first._

Calum comes back to the table and slides back into his seat a moment later, already chattering about some soccer tournament coming up next week. Michael makes an effort to listen, nodding along and laughing at all the right parts. He catches Luke’s eye as he grabs a fry and thinks to himself, _this might be okay._

 

+

 

Things are easier after the day at the diner. Michael jokes more readily with Calum, and the two of them really hit it off over discussing bands they like. Sometimes that odd niggling feeling makes itself known when Calum makes Luke laugh so hard he doubles over, but Michael pushes it down because Luke isn’t _his_ , no matter how many years it’s just been the two of them as best friends. Luke seems to really like Calum, and Michael will just have to learn to deal with that.

The three of them hang out at lunch everyday over the next week, and Calum starts showing up to music class to hang out while Luke and Michael fool around. Michael notes that he’s actually quite talented when he fucks around on the bass, on the rare occasion he plays in front of them.

Things have been quiet on the supernatural front, so it comes as a surprise when on Thursday night, Michael’s dad knocks on his bedroom door around ten and hands him a newspaper article from a couple towns over.

“What’s this?” Michael asks, eyes flicking across the title of the article - _Horror in Hondo._

“A possible case,” his dad says. “Up in the Hondo area. Nothing too serious. Your mum and I are busy working on policies this weekend, so we thought you and Luke might want to go on a little road trip and check it out. No pressure, though. If you don’t want to go, we can call some friends to look into it.”

“Oh, man. This looks really cool!” Michael enthuses with a grin, eyes lighting up. New cases are like Christmas gifts. “I’ll talk to Luke and let you know tonight, okay?”

“Okay. I know it’s short notice, but it should be a straightforward find-and-kill operation. We’ve been talking, and we’ve decided we think you two are ready for something like this.” He pauses and ruffles an affectionate hand through Michael’s hair. “If at any point you boys didn’t feel confident or safe, you know you could always call us or anyone else in the contacts book, alright?”

Michael meets his eye and nods firmly. “Of course. Thanks, dad.”

“Alright,” his dad nods with a smile. “Don’t stay up too late.” He pats Michael’s shoulder lightly and shuffles out, closing the door behind him, and Michael rushes to his desk to devour the news clipping.

> _Officials in the area are warning residents to stay alert and not go out alone after three residents have now been mauled by wild animals. Last month’s fatality shocked the community and brought bear safety back into the spotlight, but after another death on the 25th and Tony Blair of ‘Blair Autoparts’ currently in critical condition at the Hawthorne Hospital, officials are telling locals to stay home, stay safe and attend the provided wildlife safety seminars. Be vigilant about your waste disposal and…_

Michael scans further down the article, past the usual bear and cougar safety tips.

> _...The police department have not caught the animal(s) responsible for these vicious attacks.  
>  “Those claw marks don’t look like any bear I’ve ever seen,” wildlife specialist and avid hunter Jim Pattigan. “More like a cougar by method of attack, if I had to guess, but the foot is just way too big and there are five claws.” Pattigan says he warns residents to “stay inside, especially after dusk and before dawn. Let the police do their job and hunt this thing, whatever it is.”_

Michael reads over the article a couple more times, then grabs his phone. 

_michael: dude u up?_

_luke: yeah  
_luke: what’s up_ _

__

_michael: !!! dad found us a possible case up north in hondo. three people attacked by a “”wild animal”” but the claw marks dont match up, no animals sighted etc._

_luke: oooh. you think it’s worth checking out?_

_michael: couldnt hurt. monday is victoria day so its a long weekend anyways (holla), we could drive down tomorrow after school and find a place to sleep down there. we’d be back by monday night._

_luke: i’m down. i have a chem test n shit but that’s on wednesday so i have no plans.  
_luke: will ask mum & dad but i think they’ll say yes. also forward me the specifics of the article, i’ll take a look and do some research._ _

__

__

_michael: road trip!!!!! <3 <3 <3_

__Michael sends the article and the two of them chat for a while longer, bouncing theories back and forth. By the time they call it quits for the night, it’s one in the morning and they’re mostly sure the culprit is a wandering chimera._ _

Luke sends a final _goodnight_ text out to Michael and waits for the responding heart emoji before putting his phone on do not disturb and setting it on his bedside, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. He knows he’s going to be tired as shit tomorrow. 

__He kicks off his pyjama pants and pulls off his shirt, falling into bed facedown in just his plaid boxers. He idly considers jerking off, but it’s one in the morning and his eyes are already sliding shut, so he just exhales into his pillow and allows sleep to claim him._ _

__

__+_ _

__

__Michael picks Luke up a couple minutes late on Thursday morning, wordlessly holding out a steaming mug of coffee from home as he slides into the passenger side._ _

__“Oh, fuck, thank you,” Luke grins, buckling up his seatbelt. He all but moans as he accepts the cup and inhales the steam._ _

__Michael laughs, taking a sip from his own travel mug and replacing it in the cup holder. “Morning. Sorry for keeping you up so late,” he apologizes with a grin. Luke can see the faint shadow of exhaustion under Michael’s eyes, too._ _

__“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m just peachy,” Luke replies. He takes a huge gulp of coffee and Michael pulls away from the curb, humming along to the classic rock station that’s faintly playing._ _

__They roll up to school seven minutes after the bell and head directly to the social classroom for first block. Mr. Horan is just putting his jacket behind his desk when they walk in, so they assume their seats before attendance even starts._ _

__The day passes either incredibly slowly or in the blink of an eye; Luke can’t decide which. Before he knows it, it’s the end of the day and he and Michael are sitting outside in the field behind the school, waiting for Calum._ _

Michael had sent a text to the group chat during bio earlier in the day that said, _change from the usual, lets hang in the field for a bit after school instead of @ my truck_

__Beside him, Luke’s phone had lit up on his desk. His eyes flicked over the message and he had sent Michael a questioning look._ _

“Ashton,” Michael whispered quietly. “He’s creeping me out.” 

Luke nodded and left it at that, turning back to what the teacher was saying. A few minutes later, Calum had texted a reply: _alright. i’ll be there._

__Now school is over, and the three of them are sitting in the field, picking idly at the grass._ _

__“So,” Calum starts, “since it’s the long weekend and his family is out of town, Hunter is throwing a party on Sunday at his dad’s house.”_ _

__Michael looks at him blankly. “Wow. Sounds exciting.”_ _

__“Don’t be a smartass,” Calum rolls his eyes, “Consider this an invitation. Obviously. It’s not an exclusive thing for the team, since, like, everyone else I know from school is going. You should both totally show up with me! It would be so awesome.”_ _

__Luke bites his lip. “We’re actually—…” he trails off._ _

__Calum ducks his head and continues talking. “Look, I know you guys don’t like the jocks, or whatever, but… It would be fun to be at a party with people I actually like for once.” He looks between them, hopeful._ _

__“We… can’t,” Michael says slowly, and at least somewhat guiltily. “We’re actually, um, going out of town this weekend. Probably until Monday.”_ _

__Calum’s face falls into a mild frown. He nods once. “Oh. Well, that’s fine, then.”_ _

__Luke can’t help but to feel like he’s kicked a puppy. “We’re, uh,” he starts. There’s a pause._ _

__“Going on a road trip to kill a monster,” Michael helpfully provides._ _

__“Oh,” Calum repeats._ _

__“Sorry,” Luke sighs, reaching out to gently nudge his shoulder. “We’ll come next time, okay?” he adds, feeling the alarmed look Michael shoots him at the mere prospect of showing up at a party. “You’ll have plenty of fun by yourself. You can catch up with your soccer friends, and all that.”_ _

__“Yeah,” Calum says. “I mean, I don’t know if I’ll go. I’m tired of all the parties and the stupid, small-town hicks,” he admits. “I kinda just wanted to see if you guys would come.”_ _

_Christ, that’s even more depressing._ If Luke didn’t feel guilty before, he’s definitely feeling it now. 

__“Well, we’re, uh. Not going to be around,” Luke confirms awkwardly. “We can hang out next week, though.” Calum nods, and there’s a moment of silence. A cloud has passed over the sun, temporarily sweeping the field in shade._ _

__“Or you could come with us,” Michael says out of the blue. Both Calum and Luke turn to stare at him. “I mean, on the trip this weekend.” He licks his lips and continues. “You could stay in the motel room and watch TV while Luke and I go out and kill this sonofabitch, and then we can chill out.”_ _

__Luke’s brows knit into a warning frown. “Michael, that’s—“_ _

__“Not safe, against all our precautions, I know,” Michael cuts him off. “But I’ve been thinking. Like, he can just stay inside the whole time, we can go kill it and he’ll never even have to be within a five kilometres, okay? As safe as a ten-year old in a car seat.”_ _

__Calum’s face scrunches in confusion at the simile. “What?”_ _

__“Our parents would kill us if they knew that he even knows about any of this,” Luke reminds Michael gravely._ _

__“So? They don’t have to know,” Michael shrugs. “It would be fun, Luke. He’d be perfectly safe and out of harm’s way the whole time.”_ _

__“You want me to come kill a monster with you?” Calum asks._ _

__“Yeah,“ Michael shrugs. “Why not? You don’t actually have to be present for the hunting part.” Luke is looking silently at his knees. “Come on, it’s not a big deal,” Michael coaxes, softer. “He’d be totally out of the way.”_ _

__Luke looks up, fixing Michael with an undecipherable look for a long moment. He turns to Calum expectantly, waiting for him to voice his own opinion._ _

__“Oh, I totally want to,” Calum says simply. “Don’t even have to ask. I mean, not the ‘coming into contact with a bloodthirsty monster’ part. I’ve had enough of that shit for a lifetime. But hanging out with you guys sounds cool.”_ _

__“It wouldn’t be that much fun,” Luke tries to change his mind. “Michael and I are going to be researching and planning and making calls and stuff. It could be one night, or it could take a couple days. And we’ll be out at night to try and go find the thing.”_ _

__Calum shrugs. “Fine with me. I don’t have anything going on this weekend, anyways.”_ _

__“Three people have died so far,” Luke raises an eyebrow._ _

__“‘Probably ‘cause they were being dumb,” Michael protests. “That Tony guy was literally going on a run through the woods alone at eleven at night. Who does that?” He waves a hand and looks to Calum, says, “As long as you do what we tell you, you’ll be fine. You can just stay inside and chill, we’ll take care of the rest.”_ _

__“Michael…” Luke sighs hesitantly. “I just don’t know if--”_ _

__“We’d keep him safe,” Michael repeats firmly. “He would just be along for the ride. Our parents never even have to know about it.” Luke looks down, silent, and Michael can see him chewing on his lower lip. “Listen, I’ll take all the blame if we get in trouble, okay? I’ll say it was all my idea to bring him.”_ _

__“I don’t care about getting in trouble,” Luke says. “I just don’t want to go charging into this mess with a-- a civilian,” he waves a hand at Calum. “It’s not safe. What if he got attacked?”_ _

__“He won’t get attacked,” Michael replies patiently. “He won’t even leave the motel room without one of us. Right, Calum?”_ _

__“Absolutely,” Calum chimes in. “I can pack videogames and snacks. You wouldn’t even have to worry about me.”_ _

__There’s a long moment of silence and then Luke lets out another heavy sigh, shoulders slumping a bit; Michael knows this is a sure sign that he’s about to give in._ _

__“Promise?” he finally says, tone solemn. Calum nods quickly. “If you come, you have to do exactly as we say,” he warns. “I’m serious. You’ll have to stick with us at all times during the day, and you can’t go out at night.”_ _

__“Sure thing, boss,” Calum agrees easily, completely unfazed._ _

__“And you have to bring Oreos for the drive,” Luke continues, the corner of his mouth slipping up into a smile._ _

__“The Double Stuf kind,” Michael adds. “And none of that vanilla-flavoured bullshit.”_ _

__Calum grins. “Okay.”_ _

__Luke looks to Michael and nods once. “Okay. Don’t make me regret this.”_ _

__By the time they leave the field for Michael’s truck, Ashton’s turquoise car is nowhere to be seen._ _

__

__+_ _

__

__Luke stays up late Thursday night, packing for the trip tomorrow and occasionally texting Michael and Calum in the group chat._ _

__The plan is for Michael to pick both of them up for school tomorrow morning along with their stuff, and then to leave right after the bell rings at the end of the day._ _

__

_calum: so i’m just supposed 2 pack clothes and snacks n stuff to keep myself amused, right?_

_michael: yea. ooooh & pack some decent music too. I dont wanna listen to luke’s weird indie pop shit for two hours lmaoooo_

He tacks on three laughing emojis, which Luke thinks might be overkill. He’s not insulted, though. It’s not his fault Michael’s music taste extends pretty much solely to grunge and punk, with limited ventures into classic rock. 

_luke: hey :-(_  
_luke: also mikey what u packing for weapons?_

_michael: my hunting knife & a couple xtras. i have the gun, what we talked about & tons o bullets too just incase. all secured._

_luke: k cool, i got my bow n ill bring my knives too. i’ll call you and we can double check tht we have it covered in the morning_

_calum: good talk. i’ll bring my gameboy_

___Calum eventually finishes throwing his shit in a spare backpack and texts Michael his address before he goes to bed. He feels stupid as soon as he hits send - after all, it’s not like Michael doesn’t already know where he lives. It’s a tiny town and everyone knows everyone, and besides, he walked Calum home that night with the Waheela attack._ _ _

Regardless, Michael just replies with a thumbs up and a _goodnight!_

__

__

___Calum brushes his teeth, kisses his mum goodnight, plugs in his phone and climbs into bed, wondering what this weekend will be like._ _ _

___ _

___+_ _ _

___ _

___It rains overnight, and the roads are wet when Michael’s truck pulls up outside Luke’s house in the morning._ _ _

___“Ready?” he asks._ _ _

___Luke nods. “Are you sure about this?” he asks once more, his tone carefully assessing as Michael puts the vehicle in drive and they drive down the street. “Y’know, bringing Calum along?”_ _ _

___“Yeah,” Michael says with a small, confident smile, hardly hesitating in his reply. His eyes flick over to meet Luke’s blue ones before turning back to the road. “He’ll be safe the whole time. He’s…” Michael pauses, “He’s one of us, now. This is just another thing we do. It makes sense to include him.”_ _ _

___Luke nods, his lips curling into a little smile to mirror Michael’s. “Okay. If you’re sure.”_ _ _

___“I am,” Michael confirms. “We have some time; you wanna go by Tim Horton’s before we grab Calum?”_ _ _

___“Hell yeah.” Luke grabs the dangling aux cord and plugs his phone in, sifting through his library and putting on _What Separates Me From You_ on shuffle._ _ _

___As the opening beats of _All Signs Point To Lauderdale_ blast through the stereo, Luke smiles and relaxes back in his seat. He can’t help but to feel happy that Michael has adjusted to Calum to this extent, even going so far as to say that he’s one of them - it’s only been two weeks, and already Michael is making an unprecedented effort to include the other boy._ _ _

___What makes him happiest of all is Michael’s easy grin when Calum throws his backpack in the bed of the truck and slides into the passenger seat where Luke has shuffled over to make room. Luke hands Calum a Tim’s cup - a medium french vanilla - and Calum makes an excited noise. It feels _right_ to have the three of them squeezed in tight together, Michael on his one side and Calum on the other, all of them laughing and making stupid jokes._ _ _

___Luke is still a bit worried about how this weekend will go. He has no doubt Calum will be bored out of his mind, sitting in the motel room for most of the trip, but at least he’ll be safe. He agreed to come along, anyways. Mostly, Luke is just hopeful that he and Michael can track down this chimera and kill it before it injures anyone else._ _ _

___So he pushes down the faint worry, takes a drink of his double-double and says something bitchy about how hard AP Chemistry is. (Predictably, Michael calls him a smartypants and tells him to shut up, and then he and Calum start discussing what’s going on in their English class today.)_ _ _

___ _

___+_ _ _

___ _

___The three of them split up for first block, Luke heading to chem while Michael and Calum go in the direction of the English hall._ _ _

___Luke arrives early and says a polite _hello_ to Mr. Malik as he takes his seat at the front of the class, pulling out his notes from yesterday. They’ve just been doing review and workbooks, so today should be easy enough._ _ _

___He goes on his phone until the bell sounds, then dives into his calculations as the last few students are arriving. The diploma is looming ahead, and while Luke seems to consistently pull low nineties in this class, he’s still nervous._ _ _

___“Luke?” Mr. Malik calls out in a bored tone as he goes through the attendance list._ _ _

___“Here,” Luke raises a hand, not looking up from his calculator._ _ _

___“Ashton?” There’s a long pause. “Anyone seen Irwin?” Mr. Malik asks the class. No one says anything. He clicks his pen once. “Okay, moving on. Evangeline?”_ _ _

___Luke glances over his shoulder at the back corner of the class, and sure enough, Ashton’s usual seat is empty. Not that Luke creepily memorizes where the guy sits, or anything; it’s all totally normal. It’s just that Ashton kind of has a habit of staring at him while the teacher talks, and occasionally they make awkward eye contact across the room. Sue him if Luke is at least a little curious about the guy._ _ _

___He doesn’t know much about Ashton, other than the fact that A) he’s Australian, B) he keeps to himself in class, C) he plays drums, and D) he’s in the twelfth grade. And one time, Luke accidentally got one of his tests back by mistake, so he knows Ashton is kind of wicked smart (like, as in 98% on the Atomic Theory unit final and a smiley face from Mr. Malik, what the fuck?). But besides that, the boy is a complete mystery._ _ _

___Luke hasn’t mentioned anything about the staring to Michael, either. He knows Michael well enough to know that Ashton watching them in the parking lot already creeps Michael out, and Luke doesn’t want to make him even more uneasy. Michael can be… incredibly protective. It still shows through sometimes, even around Calum, and Luke doesn’t want Michael to go confronting Ashton about it or anything._ _ _

___The thing is, Luke considers himself to be a good enough judge of character, and Ashton isn’t setting off any warning bells in his head. Ssure, the constant staring might be a little weird. And yeah, he doesn’t seem to have any friends, but he also just moved to rural Alberta from fucking Australia, so that can be expected. He doesn’t seem to give off a malicious vibe, or anything. He’s just a bit weird. Luke can deal with that on his own._ _ _

___Luke sighs and mentally shakes himself, turning back to his chemistry worksheet. Ashton doesn’t show up in class at all that day, and Luke carries on working._ _ _

___ _

___+_ _ _

___ _

___Michael reunites with Luke for social in second period, where Mr. Horan puts on a documentary about immigrants for the block. The two of them pass notes and doodle, only vaguely paying attention, and it’s basically a free period until the bell rings for third block; music._ _ _

___Michael and Luke grab their guitars and sit down by the whiteboard, Calum showing up shortly after and throwing his backpack down by the wall. “Hey.”_ _ _

___“Hey,” Michael nods. “Um, Jack and Alex stole the studio again and the back room’s been taken. You guys wanna take a stairwell?”_ _ _

___Luke shrugs with a noncommittal grunt._ _ _

___“Let’s just hang out here,” Calum suggests. He goes and grabs his bass from the closet, then returns to sit cross-legged on the rough carpet._ _ _

Luke sets about picking at his guitar strings. He plays a scale or two to warm up and hums a tune softly under his breath, idly playing chords. Michael belatedly realizes he’s playing through an odd, slow rendition of _All The Small Things_. It makes his lips quirk up into a fond smile. 

___Michael sits and listens to Luke for a moment, watching the way his fingers nimbly shift along the strings, the slight frown of his brow and his long eyelashes on his cheeks. Beside them, Calum is tuning the E string on his bass._ _ _

___Faintly, Michael registers the music room door slamming open; he turns to look on instinct and immediately locks eyes with Ashton._ _ _

___The two boys don’t say anything, just stare at each other blankly for a second. Then Ashton’s eyes flick away and he turns to Styles to tell him something._ _ _

___Calum looks up from his bass, first to Michael and then following Michael’s suspicious gaze over to where Ashton’s back is turned to them. His dark eyebrows raise a millimetre, curious._ _ _

___“Uh, do you two know each other?” Calum jokes, carefully keeping his voice low._ _ _

___“No,” Michael says flatly._ _ _

___Calum just looks at him for a moment. “Um, okay, then,” he remarks when it becomes clear Michael isn’t going to extrapolate on the subject. The two of them watch Ashton say something more to Styles and then walk away, heading out of the room._ _ _

___“The fuck is his problem?” Michael grumbles with no small amount of venom._ _ _

___Luke, who has since stopped playing his guitar, simply shrugs. “He’s just odd, Michael. Leave him be.”_ _ _

___“Fucking creepy is what he is. Does the staring really not bother you?”_ _ _

___“I mean, not really.”_ _ _

___“Wait, why don’t you guys like Ashton?” Calum asks, confused._ _ _

___Michael and Luke turn to look at him, and Luke says, “You know him?”_ _ _

___“Yeah?” Calum’s cheeks flush an uncharacteristic pink. “I mean— Not really. We, uh. We were at a party together, and we were drunk, and.” He looks alarmed at where the story is taking him. “I mean. He seems okay.”_ _ _

___There’s a long pause, and then realization dawns on Michael’s face. “Oh, shit,” he says softly. “Did you two—?”_ _ _

___Calum looks like he wants to sink into the ground. “No! No. I mean, well… I don’t. Maybe,” he forces out. “It wasn’t really anything. We were both drunk and I kinda… I don’t know.”_ _ _

___“I don’t understand,” Luke says slowly, confused._ _ _

___“Our boy Cal thinks Ashton is cute,” Michael clarifies with a smirk._ _ _

_Calum can’t even defend himself, just looks down at his lap with flaming cheeks. His heart is pounding, unable to meet Luke’s eyes. His mind is racing with a thousand different ways to insist he’s straight and he can’t believe he just said any that, _what the fuck is he thinking_ — _

__

__

“Ah,” Luke says, eyebrows raising. “Well, yeah.” He shrugs, nonplussed. “I mean, he _is_ pretty cute.” 

___“For a stalker, maybe,” Michael grumbles with a displeased frown._ _ _

Luke smacks him in a clear gesture of _shut up, asshole_ , and turns to Calum, who is trying in vain to keep the freaked-out expression off of his face. “So, do you like him?” he asks, genuinely interested, “Or was it just a one-time thing?” 

___Calum shrugs helplessly. What is he supposed to tell them? “It was a party or two,” he eventually manages, embarrassed. “The first one, we just. Um. Kissed, I guess.” His tone gets lower and lower as he talks, so he’s barely speaking above a whisper. The words feel clumsy and far too honest as they come tumbling out of his mouth, but he looks up to gauge the other boys’ facial expressions and finds only curiosity. “We, uh,” he swallows nervously. “The second party was the night with the Waheela. I got kinda smashed and we were—… We were in someone’s room.” Calum feels like his face is so hot his cheeks might just be melting off his face at this point. “I dunno, I just. It’s foggy. I just jerked him off and then I had to go puke. That was all. It wasn’t anything special.”_ _ _

___There’s a beat of silence and then Michael says, “Holy shit.” When Calum looks up from his lap again, the red-haired boy is grinning widely. “That’s… Wow. I mean, I still think Ashton is a fucking weirdo, but I’m seventeen and that’s more action than I’ve ever gotten in my entire life, so.” He claps Calum on the shoulder. “Way to go, man.”_ _ _

___“Don’t be rude,” Luke chastises weakly, but he’s smiling, too. His fingers are curled loosely around the neck of the guitar lying forgotten in his lap._ _ _

___Calum laughs and nods. “Um, yeah. Like I said, it wasn’t anything special,” he mumbles, scratching at the back of his neck. “I just kinda… gave him a mediocre drunk-guy handjob and dipped out of there. We haven’t even talked since then.”_ _ _

___“Still,” Michael marvels, shaking his head and sounding a little bit grudgingly awed. “So jock boy Calum Hood got it on with the one foreign guy in town, huh?”_ _ _

___“You’re just jealous ‘cause you’re still a virgin,” Luke laughs, a snorting little giggle, but it’s without any hint of malice whatsoever. Michael weakly defends his honour, but he’s grinning and laughing along as they banter back and forth. It’s so comfortable and unlike anything Calum has ever witnessed in any locker room before. It vaguely registers that Michael and Luke are trusting him enough to include him in this easy exchange, and he ducks his head, pleased and grinning._ _ _

Michael makes a couple more crass comments about Calum before Luke fondly rolls his eyes, firmly redirecting the conversation back to music. Neither of the boys have said anything about Calum essentially coming out to them, or made offensive jokes like his soccer teammates do, or pressed him for more information than he’s comfortable giving. It feels like a weight has been lifted off Calum’s chest. It feels _good_. 

___ _

___+_ _ _

___ _

___Last block is biology for Michael and Luke, and chemistry for Calum. The three of them text throughout the last half of class, planning on meeting by Michael’s truck a couple minutes after the bell._ _ _

___Michael and Luke’s teacher dismisses their class a few minutes early, wishing everyone a good long weekend as they file out._ _ _

___“I’m gonna go put my social book away,” Luke announces, hitching a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of his locker._ _ _

___Michael waves him off. “‘Kay, see you in a sec.”_ _ _

___The two of them briefly part ways, and Michael walks off down the hallway as the bell rings and the students start to pour out of the classrooms. The sunshine is warm on his face as he pushes through the doors leading to the parking lot. He throws his backpack in the bed of his truck and leans on the driver’s side door as he waits for Luke and Calum to show._ _ _

He’s only standing there for a minute before he catches sight of a familiar head of curly brown hair across the lot, still standing by that turquoise car. _Surprise, surprise._

___Michael feels himself bristle and he rounds the truck until he’s behind it, glaring angrily back at Ashton with his arms crossed. The two of them just stand there, neither looking away._ _ _

Michael can’t quite read Ashton’s facial expression from this distance, but the older boy looks impassive as he stares plainly back, making no pretenses whatsoever. Michael’s blood is simmering a bit by this point. He’s debating stalking over there, demanding something stupid like _what’s your fucking problem, freak?_ just to get Ashton to do something, but then a hand lands on his shoulder and his attention is jerked back to Calum, who is standing behind him with a weird expression. 

___“You okay, dude?”_ _ _

___“Fine,” Michael grits out._ _ _

Calum looks over Michael’s shoulder, sees Ashton, his mouth pulling up a little as he raises one hand in a dorky wave. He fucking _waves_! What the fuck? That little traitor! 

___“What--” Michael starts, about to be angry, and then he sees Ashton wave back. Before he can say anything, Luke appears._ _ _

___“Hey,” the blonde boy says, tossing his backpack into the back of the truck alongside Michael’s. “We good to go?” His eyes flick between Michael and Calum, then following their gaze over to Ashton. “Uh, Michael?”_ _ _

___“Yeah, let’s go,” Michael says flatly._ _ _

___Calum and Luke turn to get into the truck, and while they’re not looking, Michael sticks his tongue out and shoots Ashton the bird before rounding the driver’s side._ _ _

___ _

___+_ _ _

___ _

___The initial incident with Ashton aside, the two-and-a-half drive to Hondo goes well. It’s a little cramped with the three of them on the bench, but the weather is nice as they cruise down the highway and Calum has brought good music, as well as a veritable plethora of snacks._ _ _

___Luke keeps the conversation flowing through the first forty-five minutes, and then they lapse into a comfortable silence for a bit until they have to pull over for gas a while later._ _ _

___“Get me a slurpee,” Luke calls out the window at Michael as he hangs up the gas pump nozzle and turns to pay inside._ _ _

___(Michael rolls his eyes, but returns with a cup of rainbow slush in hand anyways. Calum refrains from making a joke about how whipped he is.)_ _ _

___Michael and Luke talk about the case some more as they continue the drive, and Calum pays rapt attention but tries to keep his bothersome questions to a minimum. From the sound of things, the two other boys seem to have everything under control._ _ _

___“We’ll get everything ready and head out tonight, see if it shows up,” Michael is saying. “If we go out at dusk and just walk around for a while, it’ll probably show up fairly quickly.”_ _ _

___“Like using yourselves as bait?” Calum pipes up from the right side of the truck, trying to keep his alarmed expression to a minimum. He knows that this kind of stuff is normal for Michael and Luke, but he’s also remembering that three people have been killed by… whatever this thing is._ _ _

___“Yeah,” Luke says with a reassuring smile “It’s totally normal, don’t worry. We’ve got it under control. It might seem counterintuitive, but it’d take forever to try to track this thing down during the day, so it’ll be way easier to just let the thing come to us.”_ _ _

___“And… This is safe?”_ _ _

___“Totally safe,” Michael confirms. “We’ve got tons of weapons.”_ _ _

___Calum nods. “Have you ever killed one of these things before? A chimera?”_ _ _

___“Michael has with his mum,” Luke replies. “This’ll be my first. They’re really common on the West coast, though.”_ _ _

Calum is incredibly curious, but he doesn’t want to come across as annoying, so he keeps his further questions to himself as the other two discuss the plan for a couple more minutes. Luke says something about _fifteen silver, twenty regular_ and Michael nods, the conversation clearly over as he turns up the music a couple notches and Luke starts to sing along to _Nothingtown_ by the Offspring, laughing and blushing when he catches Calum grinning amusedly at him. 

___They arrive in Hondo forty-five minutes or so later, and without much ceremony. The whole thing is just farmland; there’s no welcome sign, no cluster of streets or houses or shops, and Calum doesn’t think he’d even know it was a destination if he wasn’t in the truck when Luke pointed at the map and announced, “We’re here!”_ _ _

___Calum looks out the window as they take a couple turns onto different gravel roads until they’re pulling up to a tiny, faded motel that appears to have literally three rooms. “Oh,” he says. There’s a one-pump gas station off to the side, so at least there’s that, he supposes. The only other thing surrounding the grey building is a large field and a couple trees._ _ _

___“Very impressive,” Michael says dryly as he puts the truck into park. “Remind me to book our honeymoon here, Lukey.”_ _ _

___“Sure thing, honey,” Luke deadpans. “Any idea where we’re even supposed to check in?”_ _ _

___“No clue,” Michael shrugs, cracking his door and stepping out with a stretch. “My dad said he knows the owner, so he booked the room ahead and all that. We just have to… Find the person.” He peers around curiously, as if a receptionist is going to suddenly pop out from the dirt or something._ _ _

___Calum climbs out of the truck as well, Luke following suit. It’s around 4:15PM and the afternoon sun is shining down on them as Michael says, “I’m gonna go look around, see if there’s anyone here,” before walking off._ _ _

___“This place takes ‘small town’ to a whole new level,” Luke observes. “Like, I thought our town was tiny, but I don’t think they even have a grocery store here.”_ _ _

___“Who needs groceries when you can just live off the land?” Calum grins, eliciting a little giggle from Luke._ _ _

___“Yeah, like, why pay four bucks for an imported cucumber when you can just pluck it straight from the vine?”_ _ _

___“That’s some organic, non-GMO shit right there,” Calum adds. It really shouldn’t be as funny as it is. He likes how easy it is to make Luke laugh, though, even with some dumb joke about homegrown vegetables._ _ _

___Michael appears from around the other side of the building a moment later and announces, “No one’s around. There’s a sign on the office door that says to come back at five to check in.”_ _ _

___“Well, we have half an hour or so, then,” Luke announces. “All in favour of sitting on the tailgate and finishing off the Oreos?”_ _ _

___ _

___+_ _ _

___ _

___When another pickup truck finally pulls up beside theirs just before five, Michael is quick to hop down and introduce himself to the older woman in the cowboy hat who steps out._ _ _

___“So you’re the Clifford boy,” she nods. She must be in her sixties, with long, greying hair pulled back in two braids and tan skin from years of working outside. “I’m Dorothy; I run this place. And these are your friends?” she asks, motioning to Luke and Calum, who wave awkwardly from the back of the truck. “Huh. Thought your pa said it would just be the two of you?”_ _ _

___“Plans changed a little,” Michael says smoothly._ _ _

___Dorothy hums. “Alright. Don’t bother me much. But unless you want to pay for another room, y’all are gonna have to share.” Michael just nods. “Alright, well. Come on back and I’ll get you your key. You said you’re staying until Monday?”_ _ _

___“Yes, ma’am.” Michael follows her around the building, their voices growing fainter. He comes back not five minutes later, triumphantly holding a giant blue key fob in hand. “Let’s go take a nap before it gets dark.”_ _ _

___They grab their stuff from the bed of Michael’s truck and head to the room. The lock is a bit sticky, but Michael jimmies the key until the door creaks open._ _ _

___Luke reaches out to flick on the light. As it pops into life, he takes in the room; the walls are a weird colour of yellow, and the only pieces of furniture in the small suite are a long dresser with an ancient television perched on top, as well the single queen bed. It’s covered in what has to be the most garish bedspread Luke has ever seen, a mix of green and red with pink and orange flowers, and he can’t help but to let out a delighted noise. “Holy crap, that bed is--Wow.”_ _ _

___“Hideous,” Michael offers._ _ _

___“Disgusting,” Luke agrees_ _ _

___“A crime against humanity,” Calum pitches in._ _ _

___Michael shrugs, tossing his bag down on the floor. “Still gonna sleep in it, though. It might be a little small for all of us, but we can make it work.” With that, he collapses bodily on top of the horrid comforter._ _ _

___Calum looks to Luke, and then the bed. “So, we’re gonna… share?”_ _ _

___Michael cracks an eye. “Yes?”_ _ _

___“Uh, okay. Cool.”_ _ _

___Luke sends him a questioning glance. “If you don’t want to, we can, like, spring for another room. Or one of us can sleep on the floor, or something. We don’t mind.”_ _ _

___“Oh, no,” Calum quickly shakes his head, “I’m totally cool with it. I just didn’t know if you guys would--Well. But it’s fine.” He smiles and shoots a thumbs-up, then turns to open the door and turn on the light to check out the attached bathroom._ _ _

Calum exhales. He was thinking about earlier, about their conversation about the hookup with Ashton and the fact that Michael and Luke now know that Calum likes boys, and how that could affect things, but so far the other two seem fine with it. Like, _completely_ fine with it, even if the three of them are sharing a bed. Which is very cool and very unexpected. 

___Not that Calum expected Michael or Luke to be secret rampant homophobes, but when you’ve lived in the closet in small-town rural Alberta your whole life, it’s incredibly nice. Calum has known Michael and Luke for what, two weeks? And yet it already feels like they know him better than any of his soccer teammates ever have.___

_____ _

_____ _

Especially after... Well.

___“Nice bathroom?” Michael calls from the bed, jerking Calum out of his thoughts._ _ _

___“Yeah, I love the claw-foot tub,” Calum shoots back, looking down at the tiny sink and the grimy toilet. “Really accentuates all the marblework in here.”_ _ _

___He flicks off the light and closes the door behind him, pausing for a second when he sees the way Luke is sprawled half on top of Michael, one arm flung around the red-haired boy’s neck and their legs slotted together._ _ _

___“We’re gonna take a nap,” Luke says, voice getting muffled by Michael’s shirt. “Wait, can you turn off the light before you come?”_ _ _

___“Uh, yeah, sorry,” Calum blinks, automatically moving over to the door and flicking the switch off._ _ _

___He stands there for a long second in the relative dimness, uncertain, and then Michael beckons him over the hand not trapped under Luke’s body and says, “C’mon, c’mon. What’s a little cuddle between bros.”_ _ _

___It should be weird, it really should. But Calum just laughs a little and shakes his head at the absurdity of it all, then rounds the side of the bed anyways, toeing his shoes off and laying down with his shoulder pressed against Michael’s on the small mattress as he stares up at the ceiling._ _ _

___It doesn’t feel that weird, after all._ _ _

___ _

___+_ _ _

___ _

Luke’s phone alarm goes off three hours later, blaring _American Idiot_ and jolting them all awake. 

___“Turn it off,” Michael immediately grumbles. He’s rolled onto his stomach, face pressed into Calum’s shoulder. “Won’t even be dark for, like, an hour.”_ _ _

___From the other side of Michael, Calum sees Luke sit up and fumble around for his phone in order to shut the song off. “C’mon, get up,” the blonde boy yawns, whacking Michael’s back. “We gotta get ready, go over the plan again before we leave.”_ _ _

___Michael groans, but sits up anyways. His hair is completely messed up, bright clumps sticking this way and that, and Calum can’t help but to smile. “Nice bedhead, man.”_ _ _

___Michael rolls his eyes, hands coming up to mess with his hair until it looks halfway presentable. He’s got lines on one half of his face from where his cheek was pressed into the covers. Calum figures he probably doesn’t look much better himself - he’s a little sweaty from sleep, his joints stiff when he sits up._ _ _

___“So let’s go over the research once more,” Luke is saying, already up and rummaging around in his bag beside the bed, “And then we’ll go over the rules with Calum, do inventory of our supplies and then we can gear up and go.” Ever the productive one, he pulls out a worn journal and sets it on the bed, followed by a thick book and a stack of papers._ _ _

___Luke and Michael spend the next half hour completely reviewing a shit-ton of information that Calum doesn’t understand most of. They go over the relatively simple plan a couple more times, too, repeating everything until Luke seems satisfied that it’s all absolutely perfect. “And you,” Luke says, once they’re done, pointing an accusing finger at Calum. “We’re going over the rules again, too.”_ _ _

___“No going outside, no being loud, no opening the door, not even any thinking about opening the door whatsoever,” Calum dutifully rattles off. “I’m cool, guys,” he reassures the other two. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll just sit here and play videogames and stuff.”_ _ _

___Luke looks wary. “Okay,” he finally agrees. “Keep your phone on the whole time though, okay? Just in case.”_ _ _

_Just in case of... what?_ Calum wants to ask, but he just nods and keeps it to himself. 

___“We’ll be back by five thirty,” Michael says. “Or sooner, if we get really lucky and manage to kill the thing tonight. But six in the morning at the latest. And if, uh. If for some reason we’re not back here by seven, you should call my parents.” He grabs a pen and a page of paper from the pile on the bed, ripping off a strip from the bottom and rapidly jotting down a string of numbers._ _ _

___“Oh,” Calum says, eyes widening. “That’s--Oh.”_ _ _

___“Relax, dude,” Michael rolls his eyes. “We’re going to be fine, obviously. It’s just procedure. If we’re not back by nine in the morning, just call that number and one of my parents will answer. Tell them we’re MIA and they’ll know what to do from there.”_ _ _

___Calum’s gut twists a little as he accepts the paper and reads the clumsily-scrawled digits. He doesn’t know Michael’s parents, and he also really doesn’t ever want to be the one to have to call and tell them their son has disappeared while hunting a bloodthirsty monster._ _ _

___Michael is waiting for a response, so Calum nods and says, “Okay. I… Yeah, okay.”_ _ _

___“Don’t worry,” Luke reassures him with a smile. “Seriously, like Mikey said—it’s just procedure. We’ll be fine.” Calum nods once, decisive, and Luke mirrors the motion. “Let’s gear up, then.”_ _ _

___Calum watches with wide eyes as they get ready - donning gloves, boots, backpacks and weapons, then double-checking each others’ equipment and running through checklists that Calum only half-comprehends. It’s nearing ten PM by the time they’re finally leaving._ _ _

___“You good?” Michael turns to ask one last time._ _ _

___Calum gives the two of them a thumbs-up, and Luke nods. “Okay, cool. Let’s head out, Mikey. We’re wasting moonlight.”_ _ _

___Michael grins. “Let’s go hunt a fucking monster.”_ _ _

___He turns the knob, and the motel room door swings open with a loud creak._ _ _

___“Be safe,” Calum adds, almost as an afterthought, but they’re already gone._ _ _

___ _

___ _

___+_ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! kudos and comments feed my soul, and feel free to come find me on tumblr @[shotgunmessiahs](http://shotgunmessiahs.tumblr.com) :-)


End file.
